City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes September 19, 2017 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on September 19, 2017 at Star City Hall, 10769 W. State Street, Star, Idaho. Mayor Chad Bell called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Councilmen David Hershey, Richard Lockett, Trevor Chadwick and Kevin Nielsen were all present. Approval of Agenda: Lockett moved to approve the agenda, Hershey seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: Lockett moved to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of: Regular Meeting Minutes of August 15, 2017, Claims Against the City for August 2017 and a Final Plat for Parkstone Subdivision, Phase 11, Nielsen seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Old/New Business: Public Hearing – Retail West Application - The Mayor explained the process of the public hearing, it is a quasi-judicial hearing. If you want to speak, you must sign up to speak. The Applicant will speak first, then staff, then we will have public testimony. Public testimony will be limited to three and a half minutes, so please organize your thoughts, the time is shorter than you think. Then we will have the Applicant rebuttal, and then close the public hearing. The Council will then deliberate. The Mayor asked Council if they had any ex parte contact or conflicts of interest; hearing none the Mayor declared the public hearing open. Applicant - Tamara Thompson, The Land Group, 462 E. Shore Drive, Eagle, Idaho, stated that Roger Collins with The Land Group, and John Marcott, the Architect were here representing the Retail West development. She believes the full team is here to answer any questions. The Sample Commercial Subdivision was shown. The total acreage of the highlighted area is 41.75 acres. The property is located west of Star Road, north of State Street and bordered by Center Street on the east. The property is currently zoned RUT under Ada County. Access will be from Deerhaven Road from north and State Street from the south. The property is contiguous to Saddlebrook Subdivision. The application complies with the Comprehensive Plan allowing for commercial to the south and Medium Density Residential of five to seven units to the north. The commercial property consists of 22.24 acres and 16.03 acres as the Residential R7 zoning. The proposed zoning is consistent with Comp Plan. The Master plan was shown. The preliminary plat for phase one is the only part being presented tonight. They are requesting zoning and annexation of the other areas. The application for residential will see preliminary plat and phase two that abuts Center Street at a later date. The residential to the north concept plan that abuts to Saddlebrook will meet lot for lot and the density would increase as you get to the commercial. The Idaho Transportation Department and Ada County Highway District have approved their road access. They have approved a new traffic signal on State Street where Highbrook comes up from the south and Deerhaven comes from the north to connect to the 1 traffic signal. This preliminary plat has six lots, five building lots and one common lot with approximately 1.42 acres for roads. The total square footage of the building space will be about 83,000 sq. feet and will include landscaping and street lighting. The proposed hours of operation are 5 am to 10 pm. A fuel station is proposed. The drive through uses will include a bank, pharmacy, fast-food restaurant and fuel station. They are requesting a development agreement namely to approve the drive through uses regardless of distance. The landscape plan was shown with sidewalk along Highway 44 and Deerhaven Way. The front elevation of the grocery building was shown, it includes wood, metals and will have varied heights. The max building height is 45’. They agree with staff report and analysis. It does comply with the Unified Development Code and Comprehensive Plan. The presentation includes annexation, zoning to Residential (R7), preliminary plan, and a development agreement which includes a waiver for the drive through use distance and height requirement. Nielsen asked why they were requesting a variance on the drive though uses. Thompson stated that they want to have that option as all the businesses along the front of State Highway 44 do not meet the 500’ requirement. Thompson showed where the drive through widows are located. There is a 500’ requirement per code. Hershey asked if those uses will definitely be there. Thompson stated they are not built yet, but they would like to have the flexibility. Staff – Ward stated Council had an additional letter from Mr. Sample and ITD. Mr. Sample requested that his driveway be allowed to remain and ITD agreed to allow it to continue. Public Testimony – Ashley Freeman, 12339 W. Foxhaven, Star, Idaho, stated that she loves the plan, she lives in Havencrest. There is a lot of traffic coming through the subdivision and Can Ada is a potential danger and we need to slow the traffic down. If we don’t look at Can Ada there is going to be accidents. She believe we have enough accesses; we need to look at Can Ada Road accesses. Lynn Davis, 665 N. Quin Cannon Way, Star, Idaho stated she is concerned about the mitigation for sound and light. If you live in Saddlebrook it is very loud from Highway 16. Your voice will echo. It is almost like being in the Swiss Alps hearing yourself. She hopes there will be large trees as they will mitigate some sound and she is concerned with light trespass. She would like the noise and landscaping mitigated. They do have an impact. Michael Keyes, 338 S. Long Bay Way, Star, Idaho, stated he solicited conversations for this. They are very happy about a signal light, they are wondering about the Deerhaven extension – he would like to see the Highbrook Road name go through this development and Deerhaven end at Saddlebrook. The Assessor stated that residential home owners are pay 93% of the property taxes currently, this development is exactly what we need. He encourages paying the Council to support this project. Robert Godfrey, 591 Pringlewood Place, Star, Idaho, stated it was a great plan to bring commerce to Star. He stated he is not a fan of bringing in high density residential and bringing in seven units to the acre is high. 2 Daniel Smith, 11651 W. Pinewood Lake, Star, Idaho, stated that he understands this is a good project for the community, but another gas station and fast food businesses. Is that really necessary and fast food brings a whole bunch of new problems. Marketing was mentioned; maybe open it up to more community things. Applicant Rebuttal – Thompson stated that as far as the comment of Can Ada Road, an extensive traffic study was done, it did not warrant a traffic signal. They worked closely with ACHD and ITD and will be paying ACHD impact fees which will be put to other offsite items. Regarding lights and sound, the shopping center will have a photo metric operation so no light will be shown off the property line, it won’t cast off light. A really large building is a really good sound buffer. She worked on the Lowes building and the neighbors mentioned the sound has been reduced. The landscaping trees will be standard size when planted. The street name at the intersection was dictated to them, but she will go back to the highway district (ACHD) and make the request. Regarding the high density statement, this is not a high density development and it does match Star’s Comp Plan. As far as the other co-tenants, we are not in a big boom right now, until we know what the conditions of approval are, we won’t know who they are until they sign on the bottom line. With a lot of competition the consumer wins. We do have the grocery anchor and they do want to build here. Again, they are asking for annexation, zoning of Commercial C2 and Residential R7, with phase 1 preliminary plat and a development agreement with waiver of the drive through use distance and building height waiver. Chadwick asked about if the height at the center of the building and the other side. Thompson showed a rendering of the building. Lockett stated that he has seen a wall built as a sound barrier. The Mayor stated they will have to comply with all the conditions of approval for both lighting and sound. Councilman Nielsen asked if there is something that says they have to have a barrier. The Mayor stated that there was. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Council Deliberations - Hershey stated he thinks it is a very good project, it is only the commercial property, and there will be a second shot at the residential. No problem with height restriction, maybe they could possibly make the traffic flow one way for the drive through uses. It is a solid project. Chadwick asked what the reasoning for the 500 foot drive through access was in our code. The Mayor stated that there was no reason, possibly copied from another city. Other areas have this, look at Fred Meyer up at Linder. Drive through windows will be closer and it is common. Chadwick appreciates this project and that they followed our comp plan, the commercial aspect is huge for our city, he would also like to change the road way names. Chadwick asked if two access points are good for this commercial space. Yes, it is. 3 Lockett believes the application will be an asset to the community. Nielsen does think it is a good project and thanked the applicants and thanked them for meeting our Comprehensive Plan and Mayor Bell for working with the applicant. He has heard a lot of people talk about it. It is nice to see it come to fruition. Nielsen moved to approve the applications annexation and zoning File #AZ-17-01, the preliminary plat File #PP-17-02, and development agreement. Nielsen amended his motion to add all the conditions of approval, Lockett seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. Public Hearing - Dog’s Day Out Conditional Use Permit – The Mayor stated that we will go through the same process and again reviewed the process. The Mayor asked Council for any conflicts of interest or ex parte contact; hearing none the Mayor declared the public hearing open and asked the Applicant to speak. Applicant - Kelly Gough introduced his partner Derek Erikson and stated he is asking to open a dog grooming salon. The Mayor asked if there were any questions. Hershey asked if they were doing cats? Gough stated there will be no overnight care, it is strictly grooming. Nielsen stated that the ordinance defines Animal Care as any structure, or portion that is designed or used for the boarding, care, grooming, diagnosis or treatment of animals. Public Input – No one gave public testimony. Rebuttal – There was no rebuttal given. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Chadwick moved to approve the Conditional Use for Dog’s Day Out, File #CU-17-02, Lockett seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Chadwick amended his motion to add the seven conditions of approval, Lockett amended his seconded. All ayes: motion carried. Maintenance Building Bids - The Mayor stated we received two bids and the amounts were listed, they both came in at a little over $500,000. Do we want to move forward with this? We can award this bid. Chadwick asked if we have to move this line item. Ward stated that the money was all in the capital line item. Chadwick believes that it will only get more expensive with material costs going up and asked if we will be in short fall? The Mayor stated that we wouldn’t as we are not purchasing the property that was budgeted. 4 Wright Brothers is the low bid. Hershey asked why others didn’t bid. The Mayor stated that he asked Keller Associates to call and ask that question and the answer was, there was no time, everyone is too busy. The project has 180 days for completion. Two bids, one was for a metal building and one was block with composite shingle bid. The Wright Bros build is for the block and composite shingle. Nielsen asked if the low bid is with a shingled roof. The Mayor stated that it was. Chadwick moved to approve the Wright Bros. bid for $502,381, Lockett seconded the motion for the maintenance building adding the roof for the Conex boxes. All ayes: motion carried. Discussion/Decision on the EDC Plan – The Mayor stated that Mr. Brian Coles is here tonight. Hershey stated that he led the direction of postponing the decision on the study as there were people that wanted to ask questions and now the EDC Liaison is here. The Mayor asked Mr. Coles to give a quick synopsis. Coles stated that his business is Building Communities and he lives in Baker City. They enact the future for their cities. He has done quite a bit of work with an entity that had fast growth. Regarding his economic development strategic plan, he likes to come with questions so the community can set themselves up. There are two focus points – economic diversity and strategies and quality of life measurements. If you move forward with this, he would like a subcommittee to expand to the general public of maybe eight to twenty members. It is a two-day intensive process. Coles will remain available for six to eight months to guide the plan. The proposal cost is $22,000 for strategic plan. Additional charges will be for other projects beyond the strategic plan. The Mayor asked if the Council had any questions. Nielsen asked if there were questions from citizens. Hershey stated there were none. Nielsen stated that eleven or twelve years ago the big thing was if we can get enough people together to do a Gem Community in Star, and while that was great this is 200 times greater. He commended the EDC people that worked on this, they knew they wanted to do the plan. He would like to express his support for moving ahead. Star is at a crossroads. Need to be on a proactive approach. Chadwick likes the idea of going up to 55 people, he would like to see a diverse sample of people to do this. It doesn’t slap you in the face and gives a direction. He is in favor of this and it is a supplement to the Comp Plan. Hershey stated there is one person that had a question. Ashley Freeman asked how this is different than having a planner come in. Her concern is for people to come in and have a relationship with ITD and ACHD. She doesn’t know if that’s where we are going. 5 Nielsen stated those were great questions. This an economic plan with certain elements that could influence the planning and zoning process. The planning and zoning commission is the Council and we would have to raise taxes to pay for people to be on a planning and zoning commission. Freeman asked if we are we going to expand the government, is the committee getting paid for attending the meeting. Freeman stated that a planner could be going to those meetings, we miss out on a lot of things. Who is working with the school? The Mayor stated that we work with each entity and he works with the school. There will be a time when we grow and we will look at more personnel. It is a great starting economic plan for the city and goes hand- and-hand with the comp plan. It will be easier to move forward. Nielsen stated you can look at this plan as an economic plan. Freeman came in at the end of the original meeting and thanked everyone for being allowed to speak. It was asked how this compares to the vision plan. The Mayor stated the Comp Plan is comprehensive in all areas of our city, this plan will help our vision for the growth of our city. This is for economic balance. Unknown person stated that the plan was an excellent idea, questioned the strategic plan being done in two days, we need diverse people. He would like Council to consider including people from the impact area such as Hillsdale as they consider themselves as Star. It is a great idea, but he wants a planning and zoning commission. Nielsen moved to approve the proposal with Building Communities, Chadwick seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Reports: Staff - Chief Vogt stated he wanted the public to know that on October 16, there will be an event in the park called the “Sheriff’s Stroll”. It is time that you can ask the Sheriff questions. It will be at Hunters Creek Park at 6:30 pm. Council – Hershey stated that he will not be here for the next meeting. Lockett stated he attended a meeting with the Mayor and Councilman Hershey and Valley Regional Transit and more bus stops were discussed between Middleton, Star and Eagle. Another VRT meeting will be on Monday at Meridian. The Fire District had their regular meeting, no one but Lockett attended. Lockett stated that there were a lot of rural areas that don’t have water for fire suppression. Nielsen met last Friday with Neurilink, an audio-visual system company. They have ideas for improvements. The current problems with mics are that you have to hold them up close to your mouth. The proposal has new mics, an amplifier, dual zone amplifiers, and a mic at the podium. The issue is we can’t plug anything in except at the center console, there will be another console at the smart board which will be easier for presenters. There will be monitors placed in front of Mayor and Council, a control center for Ward for audio to record, digitally in the closet, and a proposal to connect voice over IP for council people that are remote. The proposal came back at 6 $23,000 that does reflect negotiating on his Nielson’s part. He recommends moving forward with this. The Mayor stated that there was one more bid coming in before we move forward. Tom Erlebach asked if we could also put a couple speakers out in the hall. Nielsen stated that we have a portable system that could do that. Yorgason stated that this needs to be on the agenda. Nielsen thinks we should spend the money this year. The other item he is working on is the website, it needs serious work. He sent Dana Davis off to talk with the City of Eagle about their site. Govoffice.com is a company that put the Cities of Eagle and Payette’s website together. The proposal has several levels of service. $13,000 for three years – this is an amazing good price. One of the things not included is the $300 option for a citizen’s action module. It will handle recreation templates, planning and zoning applications and citizens can interact with the forms. One cost $14,000 for three years. They will help with design and training from start to finish. This is mobile friendly for volunteers, staff and all to work on. Nielsen recommends moving on it as soon as possible. Hershey asked if we would own the software or would they. Nielsen stated you never own the software, you own the content. Hershey has worked with them before. Dana Davis stated that if you want to add another three years of use, they will do it for the same price, so basically a six year deal. Michael Keyes asked whose hardware it would be hosted on. Nielsen stated that it would be on the cloud and is secured and encrypted. The City wanted to hook up with Access Idaho but haven’t been able too. This will allow for payments over the web. The Mayor thanked Davis and stated that we will move on it. Chadwick stated the Beautification and Pathways Committee led by Mike Olson are working on getting the streetlights cleaned up and painted. Rocky Mountain Electric will take down poles, change the top of the lights and they will all be uniform for a cost of $21,000 for all 19. It will take two weeks to get down. Also, they do have the banners and will get them to Ward. Mayor – Mayor Bell attended the TVP meeting in Middleton yesterday. The topic was this winter and being better prepared. There will be announcements of the 20th anniversary year of Star. We are planning a celebration and will have info out this coming week. Eagle Christian Church is very happy to let us use their church for this community event. We will have a nice concert which will be free to the community. The Mayor and Ward met with two different groups from ITD twice this morning. Items discussed were future plans for Highway 44 to widen to five lanes all the way to the freeway. The section between Linder and Highway 16 will be widened in the next three years. We talked with another group of engineers about access near Highway 16, they want to see a master plan. This week there is a Domestic Awareness event 7 that the Mayor and Police Chief will be participating in. It will be held at 370 N. Benjamin at 10 am on September 27, 2017. The Chief and Mayor will be participating. All are invited to come. The Mayor stated that Deputy Clerk Kathleen Hutton is back to work part time, she was out with a surgical matter, but will be back next week fulltime. Adjournment: Lockett moved to adjourn, Chadwick seconded the motion: all ayes, motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm. Approved: ____________________________ Charlten Bell, Mayor ATTEST: ________________________ Cathy Ward, City Clerk 8